Loose ends

Strawberries sans cream © Magnus Andersson

A few of my blog postings seem to end in the words 'more on that later', but frankly, once I've posted something I don't necessarily feel the need to go back and revisit it once again. But in attempt to be diligent and to keep you, my fine readers, coming back, I shall tie up some loose ends and give you closure (sort of) on one thing: Wimbledon.

It obviously finished a while ago now, but for me it was a really good insight into how a global sporting event like this works. I get a feeling that the same togs tend to go every year, so if you have a good year, your agency/paper/magazine will ask you to do it again the next year. For me it was a bit of a mess though, because I'd never covered sports before, let alone such a major event. I look at sports photography quite a lot, but seeing what kind of pictures that are being used and then trying to teach yourself exactly that are two very different things. First of all you need the kit.

I'm ashamed to tell you what kind of kit my newspaper supplies me with after having been at Wimbledon but here goes: one Nikon D2Hs (no spare body, just ONE), 17-35/2.8, 50/1.8 and a 80-200/2.8. That's it.


Swedish veteran Bjorkman lays into one © Magnus Andersson

Not a lot that you can do with that at a sporting event for sure, but luckily I own a 300/2.8 personally, and that came in handy, especially on the cropped D2Hs sensor, but overall, I felt like
I was back doing work experience again, watching all these 400 VR's and 600mm's and 2-3 bodies dangling off each photographer, while I had to make do with a student kit. Allegedly we will upgrade our kit in a year or so. Ho hum.


Court One from the corner pit © Magnus Andersson

However, help was at hand. Nikon and Canon were both there, and they basically let you have any kit you wanted for a day or two - as long as you signed your life away. That meant I was swinging D3's and D300 all day long, and let me tell you, the D3 is the shit. I've never felt a camera to be that responsive and intuitive in my life, and the files that it produces are wonderful. Combine that with a super fast AF, superb colour rendering and high ISO performance and you have a camera that every single newspaper photographer would want to own at least two of. Many thanks to Alex and the rest of the staff at Nikon UK for sorting me out on my days at the Championship.

Sadly, I managed to get myself barred as well...


Centre Court from the stand pit © Magnus Andersson

My pass allowed me access for the first ten days, and after that they take a view on who can come and why. I asked if I could come on Ladies Final day (Saturday, it ends the next day) and was told it was OK. Never mind that I wasn't paid for this, going to shoot Wimbledon is a rare opportunity so I got up early to get to (unpaid) work that morning, even though I had worked 14 days in a row by this stage. I paid the parking attendant his £25 (parking fee's are ridiculous) and went to the entrances. I put the unwanted of my gear in my locker inside the photographic area, then went to the Nikon people to pick up some much wanted gear and headed to Centre Court.


Court 18 from above © Magnus Andersson

First off was the Williams' sisters final and I just made it in time. Three security guys checked my pass and let me in. I got a spot near the baseline, right next to a big TV camera, but there were still a few empty seats around us, so I was OK for elbow space. The final unfolded in two straight sets, a blessing when it comes to editing. I don't envy the guys who had to shoot the men's final. Five long sets with several rain delays. They had to be there at 2pm and probably didn't leave until long after midnight, and got wet in between...


Shot on a borrowed Nikon D3 & 14mm 2.8 © Magnus Andersson

Next I was headed over to Court One to cover teenage wonder kid Laura Robson in her final. I heard somebody shout my name and turned around to find Russell from the photo office chasing me. He came up and asked me in his stern Scottish tones: 'Were you in the pit at the Ladies final'? I said: 'Yes'. He told me that I wasn't supposed to be there, that I was in breach of Wimbledon rules by being there and taking pictures.


Bjorkman squeeze down to fit my full frame © Magnus Andersson

I thought 'Oh shit, I'm out the door right now'. I was taken back to the office to find out how it had happened that I was let in to that Williams final. It turned out that that they have a sticker system on Finals' days and I had not been assigned one, and hence wasn't allowed to shoot that final. My bad. I wasn't aware of this system, but rules are rules. I think security had a lapse for not spotting the missing sticker on my badge, but I apologised profusely to Russell and his colleagues for causing trouble when I wasn't even aware that I was.


Line umpire tries to ignore photographer © Magnus Andersson

What happened next was rough but fair. Russell had a quick chat with Bob and then spelt it out for me: 'You are banned from Wimbledon next year. Your newspaper is welcome, but you, personally, can't come back. Now go and photograph the final you came to photograph'. And he left it at that, so thanks Russell, for letting me shoot Laura's match.


Laura Robson kisses her trophy © Magnus Andersson

Next year I hope one of my colleagues will learn from my mistakes. Anyway, I'd still like to thank Bob Martin, Russell Cheyne, Trisha and the French girl (still don't know her name) for making it a great event for me.

Thought for the day: Ignorance might be an explanation, but its not an excuse.


Venus Williams mesmerized by her new bling © Magnus Andersson

Automatic Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor = camera porn

The first proper SLR camera that I bought for myself was a Canon 1000 F/N, but before that, the first SLR that I ever used properly was a Nikon F3 (left). This was when I was studying at Chalmers Technical University in Gothenburg, early 90's, and was a member of the CFFC (Chalmers Film & Foto Kommitte). The F3, even by today's standards, is a beautiful piece of work. We used to shoot T-Max 3200 on gig nights down in the student union and we processed the first roll during the show and managed to hang prints in the place before the gig was over! Proper dip'n'dunk.

I don't know if it was the superb handling and feel of the F3 that made me a Nikon-head, but I've remained true ever since (apart from straying over for a Canon 20D, but gave it up for a Nikon D2x). Sadly, at least in the high-ISO stakes, Nikon have been lagging behind Canon for quite a while. Until the D3 (left) arrived. The race was over and image quality counted for more than mere megapixels, at least for us photojournalists.

I'm pretty sure that lens quality is the next area-for-improvement rather than MP, but for sure, consumers are still fooled into buying more pixels and less quality. (And if Canon comes up with the goods, I'll switch, OK?)

Today Nikon have announced the D700 and the flash SB-900. These two products - to me - is camera porn. I love all things technical, love reading the specs, love trying out all the functions. And my girlfriend suffers.

But I also feel sorry for all the people that have bought the D300. Surely a D700 - with the superb sensor of the D3 - is a much better option if you want to go with a smaller camera body (and presumably a smaller budget)?

And for D3 users there's another annoyance: the have introduced dust removal on the D700 as well, so why buy a D3 anymore? Anyway, I don't want to berate the cameras that I love the most and its good to see that Nikon are forging ahead. Having been at Wimbledon the past week I have also noticed a fair shift away from the white lenses as well, so come on Nikon!

And when uber-photographer and SportsShooter.com founder Robert Hanashiro of USA Today a - a long time Canon user - says that they have switched to Nikon, it means a lot (p.2 in the interview).

As for image quality though, there's only one brand to trust: Swedish-made Hasselblad's of course...I have a whole (film) system gathering dust at home, any takers? Their 39MP sensor produces some decent stuff though, I have to admit.

But so does the D2Hs, my current work camera, and it only boasts 4MP (below).


Nadal goes for power on a double handed forehand shot. © Magnus Andersson

My fifteen seconds

Thanks for all the texts and emails about my Metro appearance. For those of you who hasn't seen it/avoided it, look away now.



OK, you can also see a clip of it on BBC here, I appear at 27 seconds, bottom right, raising my lens. Possibly only available to UK users. Thanks Valroy for sending me the scan!

Front page material...me?

Andy Murray runs for a ball during his match with Gasquet yesterday. © Magnus Andersson

Did you see the match that Andy Murray played last night? It was a blinder, he came from two sets down to win the next three and I was down in the photo pit taking pictures.

I've had a few texts this morning saying that I'm on the front page of the Metro, so for those of you in London who commute on public transport today, I can only apologise.

Wimbledon pt III

Venus Williams secures a point. © Magnus Andersson

Wimbledon pt II

Venus Williams backhand. © Magnus Andersson

Wimbledon pt I

Andy Murray stretches for a one-hand-backhand shot in his opening match. © Magnus Andersson

Its been a really busy week so the blog has had to take a break for a few days, but I'm back now. After that Pussy Galore shoot I went straight to the Wimbledon Tennis Championships for the next two days and I had a blast.

We never get a chance to photograph sport at the paper apart from once a year when one of us gets a pass to Wimbledon, and this year the luck fell on me. I have to say that it is a pretty steep learning curve for someone like me who hasn't shot sports before, but I'm into most sports apart from maybe cricket (its NOT a sport, its an upper class excuse for getting drunk during the day) and polo (also upper class, but mainly because I'm very allergic to those beautiful horses), so the will to learn was there.

First of all I went to see the nice folks at the photography liaison office lead by the brilliant Bob Martin and his staff Russell, Trisha and the French girl whose name I cant remember, and they've all been very helpful with the little newcomer, showing me around and making sure I wipe my nose.

I first went down on Sunday, the day before it started, to pick up my accreditation and to get a general feel of the place. Its huge. There are 18 courts in all so there's a lot of tennis to cover. Luckily my pass gets me into both Centre Court and Court 1 - where the big names always play - so my choice is pretty much already made up for me.

That said you can get some different angles on say Court 18 (left), which my pass for the two main courts doesn't really allow me to, so its well worth checking out the smaller one's as well. You also get some good crowd shots from these, because you are not as restricted. On Centre Court and Court 1 I'm only allowed to sit on the umpire side, which means you mainly concentrate on the player nearest to you. Luckily they switch over after a few points so you don't really have to move. In sports photography a clean background is key though, so jostling for the seat nearest to the umpire happens, because it means you can shoot both players if you want to. Saves time and annoys your colleagues.

The weather was glorious the first two days and consequently I burnt my arms and my neck - on one side only, which made me look a Hi-Lo Wobbler (pictured left) that I used to fish with in my youth. The photographer from the MoD kindly lent me his spare hat when he saw what a state I was in, heat exhaustion can be a dangerous thing. Luckily we get free water from the sponsors Evian and we are also given a meal allowance and free coffee as well, just to make sure that we can keep doing our job.

After my first day I was exhausted. The heat, lugging all that gear around (two bodies, wide zoom, 80-200 and a 300 plus a monopod, water, gear pouches etc on my shoulders), and trying to learn how to shoot tennis in one day got to me, not to mention the two hour journey home. When I finally got to bed I couldn't sleep. Too tired. But I'm sure Djokovic was tired too...


Djokovic serve/severe arm twist © Magnus Andersson

Even so I cant complain at all. Getting a chance to photograph the top performers up close (we are only 4-5 metres away from them) is a chance that only 130 or so photographers in the world get a chance to do every year, so yes, I'm loving it all.

I spent a lot of time watching the other experienced photographers too, and guess what? There's chimping going on between each point! Yes, chimping! Between each and every point! I had no idea. I have always been a firm believer in not-deleting-in-camera, always wait until you got it onto a hard drive and then view it on a decent screen, not a little LCD in bright sunlight. But there's a good reason for it. Most cameras shoot at least eight frames per second which can generate a lot of pictures for editing later, so it actually saves time to chimp a bit during the action, because there will always be frames where the focus just wasn't tracking properly, or where the composition is out.

I'm off out for dinner now but there will be more from Wimbledon, because there is so much more to say. Stay tuned.

Doom & gloom

© Magnus Andersson

OK, so I haven't posted much the last few days, but its been quite hectic, what with one of our team on holiday, so us three photographers are taking turns doing the imaging (processing images for press), which meant that there's only two photographers available for assignments, hence we're rushed off our feet.

The second reason is football. Euro 2008 is under way and Sweden notched up a 2-0 against Greece last night, so well done the lads, but I have to say it wasnt very entertaining. I shouted at the TV most of the time.

The third reason is not really a reason, but its depressing none the less. A brilliant conversation between two photographers talking about the difference between UK & US in terms of photography. Maybe its time to start applying for that Green Card lottery?

However, its not all doom and gloom for me as I'll be going on holiday again on Friday, and for a week or so I can forget about it and just go fishing, canoeing and camping with my dad, hang with my nieces and only carry a small compact camera where I go. Yippy ki yay, motherfucker.

After that we have Wimbledon, and I've got my pass and my long lens ready. I've never been before, and we never really shoot sport here at the paper, so it should be much fun and lots of mistakes to be had.

Picture: taken while I was still studying photojournalism at uni; the then London Mayor Ken Livingstone on the day he refused to apologise for likening a Jewish reporter to a concentration camp guard.